Suddenly fell out. How did the father of the journalist Safronov arrested for “espionage” die?

As Novye Izvestia reported today, journalist Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the head of Roscosmos state corporation, was detained in Moscow. The journalist Elmir Valeyev recalled in this connection the family history of the arrested:

“See what a story.

There was such Ivan Ivanovich Safronov. In 1979, he graduated from the Military Academy, served half the life in the army, and since 1993, he worked in the press service of the Russian Aerospace Forces. In 1997, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, after which he became a journalist for Kommersant, and naturally wrote about the military-industrial complex.

In 2007, Ivan Safronov prepared material on the secret deliveries of Russian aircraft and anti-aircraft systems to Syria and Iran through a third country. According to his colleagues, the material was almost ready, but in the end no one saw it - on March 2, Safronov suddenly fell out of the window of the landing (!) Of his entrance. And from the fifth floor, although he lived on the third. Throwing the just made purchases in the store right on the landing.

Ivan Ivanovich has two children left, his daughter and son - also Ivan Ivanovich. And he also went into journalism, also began to write in Kommersant about the military-industrial complex. A year ago, on March 18, 2019, Kommersant published an article by Safronov on plans to supply Russian Su-35 fighters to Egypt. Rosoboronexport denied everything, and in June a case was even filed against Kommersant. As a result, the article disappeared from the publication’s website, and Safronov himself quit the editorial board in May along with the entire political department. The reason for this was his material about the possible resignation of Matviyenko.

And a year later, the situation received, so to speak, development. In May 2020, Vesti reported that Russia began to build the very Su-35s for Egypt - and the contract, according to their information, was concluded in 2018. And today, July 7, the FSB arrested Safronov on charges of divulging state secrets... "

The Pskov journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva, who was justly unjustly convicted of her professional activities, writes:

“Here again, the journalist is against the security forces.

And the question is, who should keep state secrets and be responsible for leaks: those who are allowed to it and are related by occupation, or a journalist whose task is to raise socially significant topics? ”

Comments on this event and journalist Maxim Solopov:

“I remember how during the preparation of the next“ sensitive ”note in RBC, the deputy general director of a large defense corporation called me and said that Vanya Safronov gave him my phone number:“ I knew his father well. ” On his part, it was the most powerful signal: "A normal, decent person is talking to you". Everyone in the defense industry knew Ivan and heard his story. Everyone who wrote more or less seriously about the defense industry did not once come across counterintelligence checks, but also many hints of possible accusations of disclosing state secrets. Back in 2017, in a smoking room of Kommersant, Ivan joked about another such case. I didn’t even remember if this was the same note about the contract for the supply of the SU-35 to Egypt, precisely because such threats constantly accompany all those writing about the defense industry or special services. “Wow, haven't you been imprisoned for 275 st?”, Safronov began a conversation with such a joke, meeting me at one of the parties another time, a year later. The usual protective humor from the absurdity around.

For many years, Ivan underwent all possible checks, gaining access to any top managers of the most closed state corporations, flew around the country, accompanying the president, ministers and deputy prime ministers. For all he could come up and whisper with the most senior people in the industry. I can’t even imagine that in the current state of counterintelligence, they could provide us with irrefutable evidence of Ivan’s work on “intelligence of one of the NATO countries”.

Obviously, no references to secrecy will save the investigation from general mistrust when it comes to a person with such a reputation. Either this is a tremendous success, or the most shameful failure.

Alas, I have not believed in the successful operations of our special services for a long time, but I have observed abundant failures and crooked movements in the very immediate vicinity. All indications are that once again they are trying to trade a living person in a game around someone’s careers at the very top. Therefore, of course, I do not believe the investigation and hope that Ivan will be released..."